Objects in Space (poem)

We're just objects in space.

Drifting through the dark,
We dare to dream,
Devoid of direction,
But desperate for design.

We constantly come into contact
With other creatures of the
Cold, cavernous chasm,
Careful not to crash into most.

These show in different
Shapes and shifts, and,
Though surely don't share all themselves,
Yet shed some shorn-off shells.

Many make their mark
By streaming merrily along,
Meriting marvel, and moving us
To meditate on more than mere existence.

A relative few fly by,
And in their fashion,
Free some fragments of themselves,
Forcing us to feel them forever.

Periodically, however,
Perhaps predictably,
A passerby will pique our interest.
Perhaps we'll play a little while.

We swing about each other,
Sailing so close,
Serving sideways in a
Swirling storm.

But now we wonder:
Would it be wise
To lose our wits and WHAM!
We whisk away as one.

Musings on the Nature of Hope

That was probably the most disappointing moment of my life, right there. I stood up, and for some reason (I would attribute it to the single Twisted Pink Lemonade I had, but I'm not THAT much of a lightweight), the floor looked further away, and I swore I could see the tops of the moldings more easily. I was wondering how this could be, when the thought crossed my mind. Maybe...just maybe...I had grown.

I know, in retrospect, it was quite ridiculous, but at the time, my hopes overruled my sensibilities. I went to get my brother, even refusing to bend down and pet my cat on the way, lest I somehow lose my newly-gained height by lowering myself closer to the floor.

I gave him the ruler and stood against our old markings on the wall, holding my breath in anticipation. Alas, I still stood just as tall as I did on April 13th, 2005.

In my heart, I knew I hadn't really grown, but hope is a curious thing. It can make us believe in the impossible. It leads men to madness, but can also lead the downtrodden to victory.

It is truly amazing.

Red and Gold (poem)

I suppose, considering it's October 1st, I'll admit that it's finally Autumn.  So, in honor of this, I'm posting this poem I wrote in 2007 about Fall colors.  Enjoy. :)

Red and Gold

Fire burns the trees tonight,

fueled by the golden ball of the West.

The flames lick the branches

like children do candy,

eager to find the sweetest spot.

Like arms, they embrace,

reaching higher and higher,

as if to join their brothers in the sky,

changing in hue as they ascend.

Then, piece by piece,

the crinkled ashes drift to the ground,

once they have spent the juices

of the tree.

And what is left is barren,

but still graceful.

A twining, twisting work of ages,

left to rest from growth

until the Spring.

A Eulogy for Justice (poem)

I'd say this was a rough draft, but realistically-speaking, I'm not going to change anything here, so...here it is.

A Eulogy for Justice

Let us pray.

O, Justice, you beauteous creature, lost to us at the hands of those who swore to protect you!

Your fathers warned us, told us to take care, to keep our minds sharp and our senses keen,

But did we listen?  No.  For a time, we watched and listened and thought and remembered…

But soon, like sands upon the beach, our memories were washed away in waves of new events and fine distractions.

Justice, meantime, was locked away in a gilded rusty tower, a distant gleam on a dreary horizon.

Too soon, the tower was all we remembered, forgetting what great beauty lived inside.

And the protectors we’d assigned, in their long dark robes, realizing that the tower was so much easier than the beauty to tame and corrupt, did so, blood-stained quills scratching furiously to seal her fate, etching wall after wall of leather-bound chains, so that shortly, even the tower fell out of our minds.

And they, the black-robed traitors, with every pound of their hammers, raped and ravaged what was left of darling Justice until she was torn and trembling on the floor of her crumbling keep.

She may not yet be dead, but who can tell?

And so, this day, let us bow our heads, and think of Justice, the light of civilization.

May she rest in peace until she finds her way back home.

Day 5 Update Coming Soon, but...

...my mother was found guilty. I don't know how, really...I'm angry and confused, mostly. As you can imagine, I need some time to process this outcome before I can do a full report.

For now, I'll just say sure was interrupted three times by the Prosecution during her closing argument, and once, they even went to side bar (Google it). In their closing, the government did the same things they objected to my mom doing, but she didn't know the terms to object. They attacked her character, misrepresented facts, and appealed to the jury's pride, jealousy, and spite. It was...truly low.

More later, I promise.

P.S. A quick chuckle, perhaps: it turns out that Melissa Siskind, the primary Prosecutor, when she was looking at my Facebook, accidentally sent me a friend request. She deleted it, of course, but I still got the notification. So, that answers a couple questions, I suppose.

(Days 3 & 4 here...)

Trial of First Amendment Rights: Days 3 & 4

Day 3:
As it turns out, there was not much else to report besides what was mentioned here.

Day 4:
Today, it was the Defendant's turn to bring forth her witnesses and evidence. The questioning was straightforward, primarily going to the Defendant's state of mind regarding the court order that led her to this situation. The cross-examination by the Prosecution, however, was a little bit messy.

It seems the Prosecution has decided that ad hominem attacks are the best course of action in this case, as for each witness that they could manage it, they found pieces of writing done by the witnesses, and attempted to use those to damage the witnesses' credibility.

For example, they found this blog, and accused the author of encouraging jurors to lie during jury selection (see Day 1). The author, of course, said she would never encourage anyone to lie, and later clarified that, while such writing was perhaps rash, she has, like her family, been rather frustrated by this whole situation. Regardless, she meant no harm, and only hoped for truth and justice.

Perhaps even more interestingly, though, the Prosecution also mentioned the fact that the author desired assistance from the Fully Informed Jury Association (FIJA) in informing the jury regarding their right to make their verdict based on the lawfulness and/or constitutionality of a law or order, and could disregard a court's instruction if they so chose. So, seeing as FIJA was unfortunately unable to distribute literature describing such rights, it was in fact serendipitous that the Prosecution questioned the author regarding that post, as it gave her the opportunity to explain it to the jury herself in open court, on the record.

Next came the questioning of the Defendant by her assisting counsel, which was a bit bumpy due to some interrupting objections and evidentiary disagreements, but ultimately allowed the Defendant to explain herself in her own words to the jury regarding all aspects of the case. This appeared effective, and we shall see what the Prosecution asks tomorrow.

Finally, the jury left, and so began the hashing out of Jury Instructions. The Defendant and the Prosecution agreed on many points, but unfortunately, despite extremely reasonable and well-made arguments on the part of the Defendant regarding such crucial topics as the lawfulness of the given order and the willfulness element in a case of contempt, for example, the judge ruled in the Prosecution's favor in each case. Considering the comparitively weak arguments made by the Prosecution, the author can only conclude that there is bias involved, but hopes that the jury is able to overcome such evils, and bring justice to this case.

VERDICT

Day 3 Update Coming Soon...

Hello, friends!

I don't know whether any of you are in different time zones, but where I am, it's 2:28am, and I've just finished prepping copies of exhibits for tomorrow, and I still have to get at least some sleep, so I'll post updates for Days 3 and 4 tomorrow.  The super-short report of Day 3 is, though, that the government witnesses took the whole day, and of course were shady and dodgy the majority of that time. So, business as usual.

More on the morrow!

In the meantime, here's Day 2.